The Rabbit and the Fox
Plot When the newest shipment of POWs was on the way from Wutai to Junon, word got to the mainland that this group was different. They'd almost taken control of the cargo ship; only pure brute force apparently saved the day. Being well fed and rested was on ShinRa's side as well, but the Wutai force was one to be reckoned with. The Turks were always recruiting, and it sounded like at least one of the POWs was worth a look at. Director Vincent Valentine went down to take his pick of them before the rest got shipped down to the labs. While he was down there, one particular POW stood out. It wasn't because this young man wasn't ethnically Wutai, either. Verudo was everything Vincent looked for in a Turk. He had intense brown eyes that proved he was astute and alert. A strong jawline was marred with a long gash that was obviously fresh. He looked very regal, even for that and the black eye. When he lunged at a SOLDIER and nearly made a complete escape, Vincent was sold on him. The problem was that his new recruit didn't seem to be capable of speech. Vincent tried explaining in Wutainese, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. He gritted his teeth when someone mentioned that they didn't know what Gypsies spoke. He had to at least understand Wutainese if he had been in the army, however. Unsure if it was a language barrier or obstinacy, Vincent had his new recruit knocked out and transported him to Vincent's own secured apartment. Locked first in a bedroom with it's own bath, the recruit spent the entire next two days trying to escape before he apparently became too hungry to bother. Once he stopped trying to overpower Vincent, the Turk Director tried again to speak with him. Only to be met with total silence and a blank expression. At least he was eating, Vincent supposed. As a last resort, Vincent called in one of his other Turks, Sukikata Hikuo, code named Katana. After about two hours Vincent could finally hear two voices from the secured second bedroom. The new recruit's voice was clear and strong, perfectly befitting. It was starting out rocky, but this new recruit was going to be something when he finally got working. Katana came to Vincent hours after speaking with his new recruit, Duragun Verudo. “So, what language does he speak.” “All of them. He just wasn't willing to speak to you.” What he was willing to do, however, was speak through Katana. He requested to go to Wutai, that he had to Send his family. After an explanation of how important and time sensitive Sending was, Vincent said that he'd discuss the matter with Verudo face to face. The two worked out a deal where Vincent would use his connections to get Verudo's family sent. In exchange, Verudo agreed to be a Turk for a year. He agreed to work to that end and to be obedient to Vincent. That obedience was very disappointing to Vincent. Verudo did everything that was asked of him, began taking the required tests to get a GED and residency cards. Verudo obeyed Vincent's orders automatically, with a placid face and empty kind of expression that was driving Vincent crazy. The life had gone out of his new recruit. During an escalated attempt from Vincent to get a reaction from Verudo sex of the dubious consent nature. Embarrassed, Vincent tried to ignore that the event had ever happened. All it had managed to do was add tension and bite marks to their relationship, however. During this time, Verudo began to bond with Vincent's son, Sephiroth. Verudo was an adept older brother and extremely good at interacting with the genius level child. Verudo could cook and all number of normal things that Vincent himself was horrible at. Sephiroth was elated to have an older brother figure. However, Vincent was uncomfortable with how simple Verudo moved into a parental role with Sephiroth. An argument regarding Sephiroth's education started a second violent sexual encounter on the way to Wutai that resulted in Vincent getting them two different rooms. Once in Wutai, however, things began to change. Verudo let his himself get close to Vincent during the trip, he further softened when his sister, Mina was discovered. When they returned to Junon they began sharing a bedroom. The months before Verudo tested and came on board with the Turks were honestly very pleasant. Sephiroth and Mina got along beautifully. Sephiroth made no secret of his admiration of Verudo's skill set and often asked to speak with him at length. The four of them had reached an equilibrium. Verudo still remembered his promise, however and tested into the Turks. Verudo's entrance into the Turks received mixed reviews. His scores were lower than Vincent expected, he had to retest in Materia and in Firearms. His grappling score was excellent, but he was hardly as well rounded as Vincent expected. This began a divisiveness within the Turk ranks. Some of them thought that Verudo was getting special treatment because Vincent was sleeping with him. Jealousy swirled around Vincent's second in thick, sticky, circles. While he had made friends, Verudo found the whole experience to be very hostile. Be it Stockholm Syndrome or not, Verudo had feelings for Vincent and he wasn't going to allow the other man to not take care of himself. Verudo made Vincent go to doctor's visits, take time off, eat properly and do all the things that no one else could make him do. However, the meddling from Vincent's father drove a wedge between them. Secretly, Grimoire was putting anti-psychotics into Vincent's pain medicine. Vincent blamed Verudo for drugging him and ended up losing control of himself. One of his voices, dubbed Hellmasker, took over and attacked Verudo. The resulting sexual encounter broke Verudo's wrist, sprained Vincent's ribs, blacked one of Verudo's eyes, and dislocated his shoulder. While Verudo was trying to clean himself up, Vincent took a large sum of money out of his account and put it on the kitchen counter. He looked at Verudo and said only two words. “Get out.” He refused to accept Verudo's resignation, stating that the young man still had over ten months on his contract. Verudo picked up Mina and moved to a hotel room for the evening. The next day at work, Verudo could feel the tension between himself and the Turks. When he was on his way out for a half day, to move, he walked into Vincent's office, informed him, then slammed the door on his way out. Despite that, he and Vincent managed out custody agreements between Mina and Sephiroth that seemed to be workable. The Turks were all paying close attention to Verudo and he knew it. The result of Vincent kicking him out was more isolation than he realized. Even Katana, who he considered a friend, wasn't entirely there for him. One evening of nearly full disclosure reminded Verudo where everyone's loyalties lied. He wouldn't open up to any of them after that. Verudo spent the rest of his time with the Turks feeling like he was constantly in hostile territory. He had to watch himself very closely and it kept him wound and tightly under pressure. Friendships with Turks only went so far when you were against Vincent Valentine, Verudo didn't want to push his luck. As the year progressed, Verudo began to relax, even introducing them to people that he was dating. One day, however, Veld and Vincent got into an argument. To teach him a lesson, Lark sent both him and the other recruit, Tseng, on a kill mission. The resulting mission nearly got Veld killed and resulted in bloodwork being done. Lark was suspended for a two weeks as discipline for going against protocol. Two major revelations happened as a result of Lark being out of the picture. Firstly, Verudo became more outgoing. Secondly, it became known that he was an Ancient, formally known as Cetra. Verudo's DNA came back as a Golden Emperor Lotus, a species native to the gulfs of Wutai. Verudo worked out to the end of his contract and left the Turks formally. Vincent gave him an extremely expensive and thoughtful gift, but did not attend the party. Verudo and he exchanged soft words for the first time in months and Verudo took his leave. The following year passed quietly. Verudo took a job in a nursery and worked alone to hone his abilities with plants. Though his boss was a bit of a taskmaster and not pleasant, there was none of the tension that lingered between himself and Vincent. He continued his friendship with many of the Turks, and when one of his ex girlfriends showed up and gave him custody of their twins, they were there to help him. Also there was Vincent's father, who lavished them and Mina with attention. It wasn't meant to last, however, Vincent was dragged out by the Turks to their weekly drinking and when he was introduced to Verudo's new girlfriend, Clemintine, he reacted by breaking a glass accidentally. Verudo followed Vincent in the bathroom to try to help him and the two had a fight that ended in sex. Clementine left Verudo as it was obvious that he had issues with his ex still. Verudo was furious with himself. When Kat went to check on him, Verudo explained more of his prior relationship with Vincent in more detail. Verudo didn't expect Kat to be as supportive as he was, though he felt very guilty for telling someone who looked up to Vincent so much what was going on. After making sure that Verudo was fine, Kat returned home. Scene: It wasn't the first time Kat, in the meantime has a lot on his mind. He's conflicted between his friendship with Veld and his loyalties with Vincent. He's unwilling to stop following a man that has earned his respect for years, but he can't bring himself to fault Verudo. Scene: I'd Wonder... Time passed quietly yet again. Vincent continued to work on his coup and after a years time, around Verudo's 20th birthday, killed President ShinRa. The ensuing coup prompted a whirlwind of media attention and Vincent being named "Interim President" he was specific that he was only holding the position until ShinRa's eldest son was able to take over the company. The media storm that followed prompted Veld to send his daughters Elfe and Aerith, Mina, and Sephiroth to stay with Vincent's father until everything calmed down. Grim talked Veld into staying with him as well, that evening Vincent, Mina, Sephiroth, and Grim all talked. It was calm and pleasant. Veld allowed Vincent to hold one of the twins. While he was there, Veld was asked what he thought of the whole coup. Verudo stated that he was withholding his opinion for the time being. The very next morning, Verudo was crowded by reporters outside of his workplace. His boss was none to happy with the disruption of his business or Verudo's tardiness. The arrival of another Cetra, named Fang, added to Verudo's stress. She followed him into his work at the nursery and helped him catch up on the plants, however, Verudo was short with her. He ended the conversation telling her that he was too overwhelmed to deal with her as well and asked if he could call her later. Fang agreed, though she was obviously disappointed about how they were getting along. Scene: I'm really disappointed Vincent was waiting for Veld when he got home. Despite his better judgement, Veld allowed Vincent into his apartment. When Veld wasn't really moved either way with Vincent's display of power, Vincent became angry. The two argued and Veld repeatedly asked Vincent to leave and get help. Vincent's repeated refusal to do both prompted Veld to call him a coward. Vincent hit him and the two had a violent fight that ended in another dubious sexual encounter. Vincent limped back to the office, where Kat and Anna noticed his dishevelled state. Kat left to check on Veld and Anna checked on Vincent. Veld's apartment was a mess and Kat listened while Veld tried to talk his way around what had just happened. Kat left conflicted. Fang meanwhile called General Beatrix of the Cetra to garner advice. She had not been giving permission to seek Veld out, and the meeting did not go as planned. After the talk with the General, she received a phone call from Veld. If she really thinks she can help him, she can prove it now... Characters Art Gallery DIDYOUJUSTEATTHAT copy.png|"DID YOU JUST EAT A CUBE OF SUGAR?" directorvin.png|In which Vincent is a silver fox. tRtF_calmdown.jpg|"Just relax, you'll enjoy it that way." tRtF_scream.png|...There's a lot of sex in this one. Links Fiction work @DW Category:Alternate Timeline Category:Ageless Demons Category:In-Canon